The Mail Mayor

Well, the Evening Mail has finally jumped, and has kicked off the petition for elected mayor.
The DCLG has lots of helpful information for those who are organising petitions for calling for Elected Mayors. Of particular interest is the possible timetable for a referendum if they happen to collect 36k signatures. The Mail has given the impression that this could all be wrapped up by 3 May. But my reading of the timetable is that even submitting the petition now would result in a September referendum. If the result went the way of the elected option, then the mayoral election would then hit the May 08 elections.
Which ever way you look at it, either the referendum or the mayoral election would fall on a normal election day, and would therefore incur the full costs of running an election/referendum. Will the Mail pick up the tab? Not if Trinity Mirror sell it off they wont. Is Steve Dyson, the editor, thinking of a possible future in politics?